From the Pulpit

FROM THE PULPIt

From Our Senior Minister, the Rev. Dr. Lindsay Bates

April - May 2016

I am amazed and impressed and, on behalf of the Church Institutional, deeply grateful for the remarkable generosity shown in this spring’s Pledge Drive numbers.

I'll leave it to Kevin Beyer, Pledge Drive Leader Extraordinaire, to share numbers of new pledges, percentages of increases, and all those other entertainingly wonky yet essential details. Suffice to say, those details made me smile. You have all, together, done a truly amazing job of building a strong financial foundation for UUSG as we move into the church’s 175th year.

Because everyone did what they could (and every pledge counts, and every dollar matters), we went from looking at a deficit of over $100,000 in what we all knew was our fantasy budget to the far more manageable $23,000 deficit arrived at Tuesday evening.

Kudos to the Board’s ad hoc budget committee, Kevin O’Neill, Dave Moore, Bob Swanson, Bill Scown. Applause for Kevin Beyer and Lisa Gades for their leadership of the Pledge Drive. Appreciation to Board and congregation members who spent two hours working hard to create a budget that will support all our ministries – Worship, Social Justice, Lifespan Religious Education, and other programs – and the care of our beloved old house.

But most of all, gratitude to all of you, who share a vision of what this UU Society can do for the world, starting with ourselves and one another, and moving outward to welcome others in an ever-growing circle of acceptance, commitment, compassion, and peace.